Random synaptic and kiln firings of a glass obsessive who also plays with pointy sticks

Posts Tagged ‘calculator’

The new!improved! gauge-futzing Excel table with the valuable addition of a “how thick is this yarn really?” calculator is, perhaps unsurprisingly, broken. I do not know whether to applaud the politeness of those people who have downloaded it only to be frustrated in silence, or be sorry that it was my own need to use it that finally alerted me to the problem.

So much for updating, fixing, improving, and so much for the Glory That is Excel. I think I followed the Microsoft unofficial motto of, “if it ain’t broke, you haven’t finished fixing it yet.”

So, I’m sorry it’s borked, and I’m trying to fix it again – for real this time (although I may lose my will to live in the process). In the meantime, if you want it, email me, and I’ll make sure you get it as soon as it’s working again (also, the encouragement might help that happen sooner rather than later).

I’m pretty sure this won’t always give nice results, and your are likely to be better off working to ‘get gauge’. But what about those times when you can’t? Or when you think, ‘hey, if I just used my yarn, with the needle size that makes it look right, maybe this recipe would be OK if I just made one of the other sizes instead of my usual one?’

So here’s a handy little Excel calculator I made to let you check that, and tinker with gauge requirements to your heart’s content. Also it includes a section for working with pattern repeats: just work out the required multiple, and any additional stitches for the ends of rows and – bingo! the geek’s friend will do the rest.

Let me know if it’s useful, or if there’s anything wrong with it. May the many-headed knitter of the Internet test this out, and bring me to my senses if required. I’m particularly unsure whether the pattern repeat part works right. It might need tweaking, so please use with caution, common sense, etc and don’t sue me because, just like there are no knitting police, there are no knitting public prosecutors either. Good luck and enjoy.

And please remember, I could have been knitting when I was messing around with the frustrations of Excel, so be kind. Thank you. Click on the image to download the calculator.